As the time spent with applications is increasingly relegated to a choice few, narrowly focused offerings such as Shazam and Fandango are racing to broaden their appeal and leverage their initial success for a more meaningful role in consumers’ lives.

Coca-Cola Freestyle, the branded solution that dispenses more than 100 different drink choices in participating restaurants, has joined forces with Lady Antebellum to give fans the chance to win backstage passes at one of the country music group's shows, an effort that relies on a collaborative mobile application to tell fans where the dispensers are located.

Marketers may have heard about some of the well-publicized features in iOS 8 such as Interactive Notifications and widgets, but there are lesser-known behavioral changes in the new operating system that could have a profound effect on the end-user’s experience.

As brands such as Taco Bell and Lexus find mobile success by mimicking native behavior to reach millennials, a currently underused tool, the gif, has potential to boost efforts across the mobile Web, email, applications and social media.

Murad Skincare has teamed with ModiFace to launch a photo editing mobile application that allows users to upload a photo and simulate results achieved by Murad products, educating users on its products while simultaneously promoting them.